The sisters slowly turned their head after hearing the voice of an old man coming from the giant shadow.

Its giant head was next to them, and only it's yellow eyes, one of a reptile, was looking at them.

The size of this creature was gigantic, it covered their vision, and even the horizon of this deformed space.

"Let me repeat. Why would I kill you?"

An old man's voice echoed in their mind. It was a gentle yet stern voice that surprised the sisters.

Dramia had her eyes wide open in front of this massive beast. Drania was shaking behind her sister.

"A-Ah... I-"

Her emotions were in shambles in front of this monster.

"Don't pick on them!"

A green dragon flew in front of the sisters and the creature.

"I simply asked a question. How is that picking on them?"

"You're too close for comfort!"

Ruminona let out some steam from her nostrils, protecting the girls.

"Hmm. It's been a long time since I've spoken to you, can't you be gentler to your father?"

"Move. Back!"

"Fine. This child of mine, sometimes."

The space began to shake. The giant body of the beast began to move away from the girls.

Now, they were able to clearly see what it was. Or give an approximate guess.

'A reptile? Another dragon?'

The sisters thought at the same time.

What was in front of them, having half of it's body out of the deep sea water, was a white dragon. Its white scales were hard to discern from the pure white of the area, but they were flawless. Shinier than the most beautiful jewel in the world, perfectly smooth on his body.

His head was massive. From the top of its head, two horns in a Z shape, the point near it's mouth, were towering. The sharp yellow eyes, with a reptile sclera in it, intimidated even the dragons related to him.

Behind him, a tail closer to a crocodile was seen, only a third of it out of the water. As it was standing on it's hind leg, this imposing display only made it more terrifying.

A wingless dragon.

"That's better. Stay were you are and give them your name?"

The white dragon sighed and closed it's eyes.

"I'm-"

But at that instant, the space turned black. The darkness covered everyone once again.

"No one moves!"

Drania grabbed her sister immediately, at which Dramia reacted by hugging her.

Ruminona, who knew she was in front of the sisters. Used her wind to locate them. The moment she found them, she protected them with a wind bubble, similar to the water bubble Monolavir used before.

The only place darker than here would be a starless void.

*Bzzzt*

"Again with this noise!"

Dramia, not knowing what it was, hugged tighter her sister.

*BZZZT*

Something broke the darkness of the place. Pure power, akin to a calamity, burst upward toward the sky.

A similar beam of energy ripped the darkness, and the space together.

From the mainland, that beam became one of the most terrifying event in a long time. Even Orion's group managed to see it.

The beam stopped, everyone back into a stable reality. The dome once again hid inside the anomaly, never to be seen again.

Blue sea, blue sky, yellow sun. Everyone looked around them to confirm their position. Luckily, no one was missing.

"My name is Velridar, Remnant of Strength. Creator of the dragons, as well as the lamias."

He opened its mouth and let a large amount of sparks and steam out.

It's white scales reflected the light of the sun, almost blindingly. The water also reflected itself on the parts close to it.

The sisters looked at him with wide eyes, shock painted on their faces.

They've heard of Velridar before. Tiohr-nam had some connections to him, because of his desire to remain on Triazils.

-

"I personally know two other Remnants. They are kind-hearted beings. Let's start with Velridar."

Tiohr-nam's Avatar began to use her leaves and branches to form models.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Velridar?"

Drania was sitting on a chair, while Dramia was standing behind her.

"Yes, the Remnant of Strength, the one that gave the word 'power', 'strength', 'determination' and 'courage' a meaning in our world."

A small model of Velridar appeared in her hands. Dramia began to ask.

"You've spoken about you before, but why do Remnants possess such concepts?"

Tiohr-nam changed the model to herself, and began to play with it while explaining.

"I cannot give you a definite answer. Maybe we were here before anything was in place, or maybe we are from a different plane, realm or space altogether, but these concepts helps regulate the world."

She continued.

"We cannot modify it, as this is the way we are. Just by existing, we bring them to reality. If we die, another being takes our place, inheriting our memories. I died a few times already."

'What I do not want to learn, is what would happen if our storage completely dries, stopping us from reviving. As the Remnant of Life, what would happen to 'Life'?'

Tiohr-nam was the Remnant of Life. She represented the 'life', 'health', 'resilience' and 'energy' aspects. She was one of the most important beings in the world. Without her, the world would be a lifeless one.

Drania asked a question this time.

"You said he was a kind Remnant. Why is the one having the concept of power not more aggressive?"

Tiohr-nam looked at the girls, and showed something interesting. She created a sword made of leaves in her hands, and pointed at the girls.

"What is a sword for?"

"Cutting down something or someone?"

"This is half-true. Think more."

"..."

"To protect something or someone?"

Tiohr-nam nodded, satisfied by Drania's answer.

"Correct. The way it is used can vary, but its main purpose is to protect. The same thing goes for Velridar."

"So he has 'power', but uses it to protect?"

Dramia asked in turn.

"And more. His raw power is capable of destroying the world if he ever felt like it."

'It's a bit of an exaggeration, but they don't need to know that. At most, the continent of Triazils would be erased from the maps.'

"That's most of what I know about him. He is a bit big, but he is nice once you know him."

-

'A bit big?'

Dramia was still in shock. She had the Remnant of Strength in front of her.

"M-My name is Drania."

Drania made the most courageous step in this situation.

He nodded and looked at Dramia.

"I- I am her sister, Dramia."

He had a stern expression, common to the dragons.

Dramia continued.

"We are related to Tiohr-nam, the Remnant of Life."

"That old tree? I was wondering how she was doing recently."

The tension seemed to slightly lift around them.

"If you don't mind a long story, we can tell you."

Dramia nodded at her sisters remark.

"That is kind of you, but I think that now wouldn't be the best of times."

Velridar extended it's neck and looked at the sky.

Dark clouds were starting to form, mostly because of his earlier release of power.

Monolavir, drained of energy, flew slowly toward the girls.

"I will help you get back."

With difficulty, he created a bubble of water.

'As usual, he keeps forcing himself.'

Velridar stared at the blue dragon. He was the father of the first generation of dragons. Monolavir was a second generation while Ruminona was part of the first one.

He was younger than Ruminona by a few hundred years, and he did his best to prove that he was the right dragon for her.

Velridar considered all dragons his children, and he couldn't accept the current state of Monolavir.

So, with his ability as a Remnant, Velridar connected a magical thread from the tip of his claw to Monolavir, unnoticed.

He began to replenish the large amount of lost magic that he used when he iced the border of the dome earlier.

Monolavir felt immediately better, and finally noticed. He turned to his 'father', and bowed his head in a sign of respect.

Monolavir straightened himself, and turned toward all of the flying dragons.

"We are better returning to the mainland immediately. Everyone, we're moving!"

All dragons wanted to go home. This ordeal took a great amount of energy from them, and honestly, they were scared to death. A single mistake and anyone would have lost their precious life.

Internally, they were thanking the tiny girls that helped them withstand the stressful situation. If not for them, they would have lost themselves in the darkness, or die from a flashing lightning ball.

Compared to Orion who obtained the dragons respect through his own strength, Dramia and Drania obtained it through helping them.

Even though at first, they came here to help them.

Monolavir grabbed the bubble, Ruminona flew next to him, and all dragons followed closely behind him, toward the mountain range that was their home.

Velridar simply stared at them leaving from a distance. After enough distance had been made, it was time for him to follow.

The rain began to fall on the Northern Sea, as Velridar dived in the water, releasing massive jets of water on all sides.

He followed the dragons from a distance, only his shadow visible as his body slid in the deep water.

~

"Orion, what was that?"

Amelia asked, the three of them looking at a white beam of light going straight up, higher than the mountain.

"I don't know. From where it is, there should be nothing but the sea."

This was a terrifying sight.

'Something with this much power is either an Apostle, or a Remnant.'

'I'll opt of the second one. There's no reason for an Apostle to go at sea.'

Karteira, in awe from the raw power displayed, opened her mouth.

"Is that something related to them?"

"To them? Dramia and Drania?"

Orion thought for a second.

"Hmm, maybe. No, I think you may be right on that. Let's think of it as them successfully completing their 'errand'."

Orion turned around, and continued to walk forward. The bean had already disappeared by now.

"Alright, let's move out. We still have a few days before reaching the first human city."

He readjusted the bag on his shoulder.

"Hocride, right? The place where a 'friend' is."

Amelia caught up to him. He nodded.

"So, what do we do at that point? Do we simply enter and say 'Hi!'?"

Karteira walked with large strides until she caught up too.

"What other choice do we have? Florian said that they would receive us, so we will enter expecting a warm welcome. If not."

Orion smiled.

"Well, it's simple isn't it?"

He looked at Karteira, who understood his point.

With a wild smile, she said.

"There will be a lot of fighting!"

Amelia was looking at this with a look that said 'I can't believe you two.'

The road to Hocride was still long. Sand was beginning to fill their surroundings, as the temperature began to rise.

Behind them, there was the greenery they were used to. Forest, lakes, everything was gone. Only cactuses and, sometimes, a corrupted or two.

This was the best moment for Karteira. Until she realized that her armor was heating like crazy, and that the steam stored in was impossible to contain.

She decided that she would avoid using full body armor, unless it was an absolute necessary.

Amelia was progressing on the way. She did her best to make peace with her fire element. The struggle was present at every try.

Orion only focused on his connection to his elements. He wanted to create that new element. He never rushed his research, and instead, was having fun thinking of ways to do it.

But, he was missing one important information. One piece of the puzzle that would help him. So, when that point came, he stopped looking for it, and focuses his training on the Second Gear.

From the thirty minutes, it extended by two minutes. His progress suddenly stopped there too.

He was dejected. Since Amelia refused to let him use the Arm Overdrive, there was nothing else to do beside sparring with them.

The days passed with everything repeating. They were close to Hocride.

"Blood. I can smell the smell of blood from here."

Orion looked up and noticed something else.

"There's smoke. Something is happening in Hocride right now."

"What do we do then?"

Amelia was worried.

"Activate the Second Gear. Karteira, jump on my back."

"What did you say?"

Karteira stared at him.

"I said, jump on my back. Like Amelia did before."

She blinked and did what he asked.

'Leg Lock Number 2, Released.'

"Let's go!"

Orion picked up Amelia like a princess, and ran at full speed past the dune of sand.

Behind it, the port city of Hocride was on fire.